Ingham County Biographical Sketches



Martin C. Baldwin


Martin C. Baldwin was born November 15, 1847, on his present home farm. He was the son of Thomas P. and Ursula (Coleman) Baldwin. The father was born in Dorsett, Vermont, in 1810, and the mother a native of New York, where they were married in Genesee county, January, 1836. Thomas P. Baldwin settled in the Township of Onondaga in 1836, the entire town at that time being practically in a state of nature. The father was a man of great physical endurance and of strong attachment for home and friends. He first located four hundred acres of land. He made a trip on foot to the land office at Ionia at the time of taking up his land. He used to go from his primitive home in the wilderness all the way to Jackson by Indian trail, to get the mail from his wife who was still in New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living. Mrs. Baldwin died March 14, 1854, and Mr. Baldwin was again married to Mary Andrews. The family of Thomas Baldwin were as follows: James T., now a resident of Toledo, Ohio, was a soldier in the Civil War. He enlisted in an Ohio Regiment from Toledo; Lovan, the wife of George Harwood of Onondaga, she being deceased; Rachel, wife of William Harwood, resides in Leslie; Mary, the second wife of George Harwood, living in Onondaga; and our subject, who is the youngest of the family, living.

Martin C. Baldwin received his early education in the common district schools of Onondaga. He later attended the high school at Toledo for one year. At twenty-one years of age he began farming for himself, purchasing a small tract of land in Jackson county, upon which he never built, however. He was married to Miss Eva Strang, December 24, 1872. Mrs. Baldwin was born April 18, 1853. Her father, James Strang, was a native of New York, and died while Mrs. Baldwin was yet a little girl. Her mother, Alvira Field, was a native of Ohio. Mrs. Baldwin was of a family of four children: Charles married Miss Hattie Wight, is a printer by trade and resides in Lansing; Clement is a minister of the Gospel and lives in Charlotte, Mich. The youngest, C. J. Grier, was an adopted child of the family, and previous to 1903, he was one of the editors of the American Digest.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin first took up their residence on a farm near Leslie, but in the year 1886 they returned to the old homestead where they have since resided. They are the parents of three children: Martin J., born November 7, 1873, married Agnes Glover and resides in the Village of Onondaga; Jasper A., born January 12, 1882, at home with his parents; Thomas C., July 11, 1888, also at home. Mr. Baldwin's father departed this life April 23, 1895, at the advanced age of eighty-four years and ten months.

Our subject is in sympathy with the principles of the Democratic party. He has served as a member of the County Committee from township. Fraternally he affiliages with the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W. He has been a member of the school board for fifteen years.

Mrs. Baldwin was the originator and the organizer and first president of the Knowledge Seekers' Club of Onondaga, organized in September of 1898, and was also chairman of the committee who wrote the constitution.

Mr. Baldwin belongs to one of the oldest families in the township. They have been industrious and prosperous people and their accumulations demonstrate their good judgment and sound business acumen.






Taken from:
"Past and Present of the City of Lansing and Ingham County, Michigan", by Albert E. Cowles.
Published by The Michigan Historical Publishing Association Lansing, MICH., 1905.
Pages 376 - 377




Biographies

Michigan Biographies Project




Sondra Higbee